Entrepreneurship takes a big jump at age 65. Guess Why?

[ElboRuum]

61. Doesn't shock me in the slightest.

Entrepreneurship carries with it great financial risk. It isn't nearly as easy or fun as the Republican old-money-babies who have never been entrepreneurs seem to want to claim.

I don't remember where I read these stats at one point in the past, so if I have them wrong, please forgive and if possible correct, but at one point it was estimated that 4 out of every 5 startups fail within the first 5 years. Moreover, this failure is as likely to be caused by market forces or unforeseen obstacles as much if not moreso than a failure based on the entrepreneur's capacity, knowledge, or hard work (lack thereof). What I take away from that is no more than a 20% likelihood of success even if you know what you are doing.

The statistics went farther, stating that of those 1 of 5 which survived the 5 year mark, of the remaining, 4 out of 5 will fail within 10 years for similar reasons. So that means that there is no more than a 4% likelihood of success past 10 years even if you know what you are doing.

With a failure is the potential for financial ruin, since any debt you may have accrued in the execution of your startup will still need to be paid. There is bankruptcy, but that carries with it its own set of problems. With financial ruin comes the inability to provide for your own health care, which can throw you into a hole so deep you may not be able to climb out in your lifetime.

It's the equivalent of jumping out of an airplane at 15,000 feet without a parachute and trying to land on a target which is 20 ft square, but contains a substance which will arrest your fall without injury. If you are successful, you win a big financial prize. Miss and you're a mascerated crimson mess.

If you have health care provided by an employer, you probably see that as more important than your wage especially if you have a family dependent upon it. Very few people are willing to risk the jump given the odds and looking at the price of failure.

Take health care out of the equation, and this is the equivalent of giving a parachute to the jumper. The odds of hitting the target remain the same, however, failure does not necessarily mean financial ruin. Whatever else happens, health care costs cannot be that which drowns you in debt. It's all the impetus those would-be entrepreneurs need to bug out of the rat race and seek their own fortune.

If Republicans really value entrepreneurship, they would be the first to embrace single payer so as to encourage it. But, of course, well, that's not what they value, second verse same as the first.